Doodle Interviews by Other Writers

I remember years ago when I was first interviewed by a writer about the Goldendoodle dog and shedding/allergy issues and the fact that the writer misquoted me just a bit in the article that was featured on WebMD.
As it turns out, my second interview with another writer, Vera Lawlor, continues the problem with being misquoted. I am sure it is not easy to remember everthing someone says during an interview, but that's what a tape recorder is for.

Quite a few years ago, one of our Goldendoodles (Lucky) made the "Forbes" magazine with his owner, Rick Randall. Lucky, an apricot Goldendoodle from our Goldendoodle World was featured in a beautiful photograph because his owner owns his own successful pharmaceutical company.
Also years ago, we were interviewed for an article about shedding and allergy issues by a writer with WEBMD. Although the article basically touched base with allergy issues and dog owners, along with problems of shedding, I didn't so much mind being interviewed for the article as I did being misquoted. Things can be easily misinterpreted by readers when someone is misquoted and I like to set the record straight any time an article appears in a magazine article that we were interviewed for.

Today, August 2, 2007 I finally was able to see the article written by Vera Lawlor (http://www.parentpaper.com) after she had called me back in July for a near 2 hr interview by phone. As is always the fear when you get interviewed by writers, the article "From Labradoodles to Cockapoos" is not 100% accurate, although the article over all is fairly well written. I really hate being misquoted or having my words twisted around because the information gives out the wrong impression to readers and the readers don't get the full story. I think anytime someone is interviewed by another writer, it's easy to be misquoted and I am sure it was not intentional. However, as a writer myself, I do know that tape recorders come in real handy!

Vera says in her article that I said "Then one day someone told me that there was actually a breed called a Goldendoodle and it had been started in Australia in 1989 as a guide dog for blind people who suffered from allergies"...and she goes on to talk about when my first Goldendoodle (Miss Henny) died. Well, part of that statement she wrote is accurate although the sequence of events is not accurate.

I actually began my Goldendoodles AFTER Miss Henny passed away. Yes I was crushed when we had to have Miss Henny euthanized when she began to go into kidney failure from the medication "Rimadyl" that was prescribed to her from our vet after she was diagnosed with an inner ear infection. Miss Henny was a Poodle/Golden Retriever mix, but we had never known about the term "Goldendoodle" nor the name "Goldendoodle". I was a purebred Golden Retriever breeder at that time (From 1996) and had no intention of ever creating or breeding Poodle mixes. I was not, at that time, even a Poodle fan. A friend of mine, a long time Poodle breeder of 25 years would occasionally ask me to help her groom her Poodles. So I would help her out when I had the time. After Henny died, I missed her terribly. I missed her smile...her kisses...her soft low shedding coat....I just missed everything about her. I had plenty of Golden Retrievers, but Henny was special.

Miss Henny loved being brushed and have her nails painted as well as having her hair trimmed in so many different ways. She went everywhere with me. Henny had the ability to look at you (Just like Sonny does) straight in the eyes and seem like she knew everything you said to her. We definitely had a special connection and bond. After she died, the emptiness broke my heart on a daily basis. Every time I visited my friend and her Standard Poodles, I would think of Henny; especially when I saw one particular Poodle of hers...a lovely apricot Standard Poodle I eventually named Scisco. He's since been retired because he's been around the longest. My second addition was Darby. He too is now retired due to his age. We would laugh about the possibility of breeding Scisco to one of my purebred Golden Retrievers and it concerned me that I would not find homes for the pups because I only wanted ONE of the pups to replace Henny. We would chuckle over what we would call them...."Curly Goldens"??? "Golden Poo"??? The list went on about the name possibility but never did "Goldendoodle" cross our minds. AFTER my first litter was ready to go, I advertised them as "Curly Goldens". A person who came to purchase a puppy brought with them an article about "Goldendoodles" and the article was about some breeders in Australia who did create the Goldendoodle for assistance dogs for those who had allergies. I don't remember telling Vera "1989" because I only saw the article briefly that the person had brought with him. My first litter of Goldendoodles was in 1999....after Henny died.

I did tell Vera that we created the litter in Henny's honor and every litter since has been created in her loving memory. I am proud to say that our Goldendoodles have brought so much happiness to so many people over the years. We aren't perfect, but many of our Goldendoodles are. I have continued my doodles because of Henny and the huge love she spread to every stranger she met. Everyone loved Henny! Vera also goes on to say that I told her I was going to retire in one year. I never said that. That right now isn't even an option. What I did say was that I've been a professional, private breeder for 11+ years and that I was very tired and nearing my 50th birthday! I told her that I could NOT see myself doing this (breeding dogs) as an old lady! hah No darned way! I also told her that I was gearing myself towards more writing and publishing Goldendoodle articles so that I could further educate the general public about the Goldendoodle dog because there are so many untruths out there about this lovely hybrid dog! So many breeders popped up on that doodle bandwagon a few years AFTER we first began and so many have so much erroneous information that it really makes me angry to read it. It's very frustrating to read so much inaccurate information about the Goldendoodle especially from laymen who have no clue as to what they are talking about. I've spent since 1999 documenting, researching, photographing and discussing or writing about the Goldendoodle and all of my knowledge comes from "doing", "seeing", "watching" and hands on experience. I DON'T play "follow the leader" when I AM THE LEADER. I also did not tell Vera that I "stopped breeding Golden Retrievers and concentrated on Goldendoodles". I said to her that because my allergies have become worse over the years, that I've cut back on breeding our Golden Retrievers for the general public and that I stick more with my Poodle hybrids instead. The only time I breed our Golden Retrievers is when we are taking them out of our breeding program and then I only sell the pups that I'm NOT keeping for my Goldendoodle breeding program. I also never said to Vera (the author to the article written about one of my Goldendoodles) that our Goldendoodles were "clingy" dogs. I did say that I thought the Goldendoodle may not be everyone's cup of tea because they DO love attention....they are ATTENTION HOGS...they love to be loved and they love go GIVE love! Some people don't want a dog that is always around them. If you buy a Goldendoodle, it's going to always want to be around YOU! They DO NOT NEED alot of attention...THEY DEMAND IT! I didn't say to Vera that my Goldendoodles come from a "strong" lineage.

My exact words were "Our Goldendoodles have over 400 OFA Champion ancestors that I spent 2 years researching. Their lineage (That is out of Wycliffe, Dassin, Eaton and Bel Tor lines) dates back to the 1930s for the Poodles but I am sure it dates back even further. Because I was able to trace their ancestors to Europe, it was difficult to continue my research due to not being able to contact the Kennel Clubs that vary in each country. Where our Golden Retrievers are concerned, for some reason, we were only able to trace their lineage to the early 70s, even though the breeders "Pekay Kennels" has been a very strong, reputable kennel since the early 1960s. It could be that they did not permit certain puppies to be registered....or perhaps because they gave limited registrations to people who did not plan to show their pups, the dogs may just simply NOT been registered and I really hate that because it breaks the ancestral chain on a pedigree. YET ANOTHER REASON WE DON'T BELIEVE IN THE HIP TESTING CRAP THAT SO MANY PEOPLE FALL FOR. Many dogs have a "broken" lineage due to dogs having NOT been registered by their owner. When a dog is NOT registered, there is no way of knowing if it was or wasn't tested or what it carried in the gene pool. DNA MY FRIEND IS THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE where dogs and their health is concerned. X-rays don't tell you anything about whether or not that dog is a carrier that could produce dysplastic offspring. DNA will definitely say yay or nay where health issues are concerned and whether or not it was genetic. Vera was right that there are alot of purebred fanatics...critics...out there who write nasty things about hybrids and those who create them...claiming hybrid breeders only create the Poo dogs for the money when in fact, it isn't the hybrid breeders raking in the dough, my friend! Show breeders fetch thousands of dollars per puppy just because one or both of the parent dogs has a Champion pedigree. Little Miss Molly won some award so therefore its pups are fetching thousands for show breeders, Which is total nonsense! Just because that particular breeder was into the show ring business with one or both of their breeding dogs doesn't mean the buyer will too. Many people just want a good family pet for their kids and are not in the least interested in showing the dog. I remember the Bichon Frise who earned the World's Champion title and the breeder got $20,000 per puppy! ARE THERE REALLY PEOPLE OUT THERE WITH MORE MONEY THAN COMMON SENSE???? The now defunct breeder of Tegan Park Labradoodles who dumped her dogs off at a local Florida Animal Shelter not too long ago, with many of them having been neglected and having to be put to sleep once fetched an astounding $25,000 just for the sperm of her labs! Talk about people needing a reality check....dear God! That in itself is insanity and this woman should have gotten jail time but she got nothing more than a slap on the wrist! That is a woman who was living off of her dogs and her puppy sales just like many show breeders who make SO MUCH MONEY from selling puppies that they drive expensive RVs to dog shows around the country and they own huge, expensive homes or farms. You can always tell the breeders who live off of their puppies and from breeding. Their the ones with the enormous houses and huge sums of land. Now, remind me again whose breeding for the big bucks? Both my husband and I bust our butts working nearly around the clock for the paltry sum we obtain from our puppy sales. No one could afford a puppy from us if I actually put the price tag on their heads that should be there. No one who has purchased from us since 1996 has ever fully reimbursed me for all the hard work both my husband and I have put forth over all these years. Some don't even appreciate the fact we bust our butts doing what we do. We aren't rich...we're just hard working people. It isn't the hybrid or average breeder fetching $600 or more per puppy living off of their dogs. On the last page of the article, Vera goes on about how to find a responsible breeder. I disagree with the very last page of her article....mainly because she doesn't say what I told her and that was that a responsible breeder WOULD NOT permit the general public to rummage through their puppies and litters like they were flea market merchandise. That responsible breeders would have an application process and a strict purchase policy. That they would NOT allow every Tom, Dick or Jane to just waltz over to their home or kennel and go everywhere spreading the germs from whatever other dog they previously handled before entering the other breeders' premises. Too many people disrespect breeders by handling multiple dogs and they don't even give an ounce of care to the fact they could have handled a puppy infected with parvo or distemper. Her idea of how to find a responsible breeder, I definitely disagree with. Especially the Human Society organization. According to what I had read about the Human Society organization a few years back, those actually in control of this society are reaping in millions of dollars in revenue from YOUR donations! They live in million dollar homes...own multiple homes and fancy cars and have a huge salary because of all the donations that pour into the society. Very little of that money ever actually makes it to the dogs' welfare. I'm not talking about the workers at the shelters...I'm talking about the top of the food chain for the Human Society and its organization. The article I read years ago was blasting those very people and raised many eyebrows about the fact they live in very wealthy neighborhoods while many dogs are dying while in their facilities or lying out in their cold concrete slabs eating small bowls of kibble waiting to be euthanized. You can thank their careless, worthless, irresponsible owners....the breeders have nothing to do with shelters across the United States filling up with dogs. We DO advocate spaying and neutering and if more vets would get off their high horse of raking in a high income and would actually have a low cost spay clinic that allows low income dog owners to have their animals fixed for free or based on their incomes, more people would have their animals spayed or neutered. It is not the breeders causing shelter issues, which so many fanatics claim. Breeders don't fill up shelters with their created dogs. The bad owners who bought them do. My personal opinion is that so many who pay so little for their animals are the very ones who have no problem dumping them at the shelters. What did they have to lose if they paid a whopping $75 ??? If they paid more, they'd actually take better care of them.

Look, the reality is this. We now live in the year 2007. I'm astonished the amount of people who actually believe they should pay very little for their dog and have the audacity to think they should be able to obtain a pet for so little. It actually amazes me the amount of people who try to bargain shop for a family pet and base their decision on the type of dog because it was "cheap". It is not cheap to own a dog or a cat or any sort of pet unless its a Gold Fish and even that $1 carnival Gold Fish is going to run you several hundreds of dollars if you give it the rightful home. Vet bills are horrendous and outrageous here in the year 2007! Advertising costs us an arm and a leg! I literally work day in and day out......sometimes into the wee hours of the morning...seven days a week. There are more aspects to "breeding" than most people know. I multi task on so many levels that I am actually surprised that I get what I need to get done, in a timely manner. I'd love to have 20 people working for me....but that's a dream and not a reality. If someone held a job spending very little time with their family.....was paid very, very little for working all hours of the night, seven days a week...and actually performed the jobs of multiple people...by themselves....how long do you think they'd last before quitting or getting divorced??? For every dollar that I take in for one of my puppies, I spend twice that on the extra essentials it takes to perform my job. I actually PAY to keep my job. Do you? Or do YOU get paid what your worth? There's no pay for the average breeder. There's no vacation days. There isn't "over time" pay. There isn't any health insurance or a 401 K either. So anyone who wants to become a breeder, knock yourself out. Thankfully, what I do is not what I rely on for income. My husband actually has a good job and before I retired from the work force, I had a terrific job as well. I retired from the work force a long time ago due to health issues. Perhaps back in the early 70s, it was cheap enough to sell a dog for $250 and maybe keep a little something for oneself. I don't know. I wasn't a breeder then. I remember when I got back from Germany and out of the military in 1996 that I paid $350 for my boxer. I didn't think it was too expensive to pay that for my dog that I had hoped would spend the next ten years or so of his life with me. So far, he is still here with us. Yet, here we are 11 years later and people still expect to pay that or less for a dog when in all of those 11 years, everything in society has risen in expenses and prices and costs. Maybe those who continue to have the early 70s mentality should be the ones who visit their local animal shelter (and I see nothing wrong with that) so that they can obtain a dog for approx. $75. People who think the average breeder is making a living off of selling their dogs need to become a breeder themselves so they can get a reality check. Unless you are a show breeder and your dog is a Top Champion who can fetch thousands of dollars per created offspring, your going to be in the red financially when it comes to being a breeder. There isn't a single person on this planet who can live off of selling dogs for under $1500 a piece. I've been in the RED for 11 years and frankly I'm very tired of being in the red. Hence, why I did tell Vera I've almost quit several times as a breeder because I'm tired of being broke due to dog expenses. But every time I've threatened to quit, another family has seen one of our Goldendoodles somewhere out and about with their owner and they've just lost a dog or are wanting to add one to their family just like the one they saw. However, because I will be 50 next year, I am planning to retire before I turn 60. That's a definite. Over the last few years we've spent an enormous amount of money having dogs spayed and neutered. My dogs are aging and they are NOT being replaced with new ones. All those breeders seeking the road to glory can have at it and I'll finally be able to spend more time with my adult children and my grandkids. I'm getting older and I do have plans to spend more time with them as well as spend some time taking my travel trailer out on the road and doing some sight seeing or camping with my family. But that is ten years away, NOT ONE YEAR.

Hopefully down the road writers who contact me for interviews will do a better job at remembering what I did say and quote me more accurately!

I was, however, thrilled to see a couple of photos of our Goldendoodles in her article and I'm also thrilled that Sonny...our featured Goldendoodle continues to make a difference in the lives of so many people as so many of our lovely Goldendoodles have. I'm definitely appreciative that Vera listed my website in her article. Since 1999, we've been making a difference in the world...one doodle at a time.

Author/breeder: Dee Gerrish 2007